PILOT, 6 OTHERS DIE IN EXPLOSION.

Bricktown, N.J. (UPI) -- A pilot and six passengers aboard a twin-engine plane were killed Monday when the aircraft apparently exploded near a housing development and scattered its wreckage over several square miles, authorities said.
Police said four bodies were found within half an hour of the pre-dawn crash. A fifth was discovered later in the morning and a sixth in mid-afternoon, police said.
The dead, all from New Jersey, were identified as:
Pilot ANTHONY J. BLASI, JR., 30, of Ocean Township, Monmouth County.
ANN KARPO, 22, of Ocean.
SANDRA CLEMENTS, 21, of Long Branch.
CARMINE J. INTESO, 33, of Long Branch.
MARIE PETILLO, 31, of Eatontown.
SHERIDAN COMERATE, 42, of Long Branch.
In New York, George Van Epps, chief of the Eastern region for the NTSB, said an investigation would start with a reassembling of the plane.
"The airplane appears to have had an in-flight breakup," Van Epps said. "Our program is now to gather all the pieces and reconstruct whatever is necessary for a complete study of the aircraft itself."

Billings Gazette Montana 1973-04-17
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!